National Coral Reef Monitoring Program
Climate Monitoring Brief: Dry Tortugas National Park
Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory Coral Program
University of Miami Cooperative Institute of Marine and Atmospheric Science
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration
N. Besemer, A. Palacio, M. Jankulak, G. Kolodziej, I. Enochs - July 2021
About this summary brief
The NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorolgical Laboratory (AOML) conducts the long-term National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) to track the status and trends of coral reef ecosystems of the U.S. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reef jurisdictions. This FY21 summary brief provides an overview of the most recent survey efforts.
Expedition summary
- The most recent NCRMP Atlantic climate monitoring took place at Dry Tortugas National Park from June 24th to June 29th 2021
- Four different sites were visited by 5 team members completing a total of 63 dives
- Subsurface temperature recorders were recovered at all 4 study sites.
- At the Bird Key Reef, short term instruments were deployed that monitor current, pH, light, bioerosion and calcification. landscape mosaics (n=6) and carbonate budget surveys (n=6) were completed to monitor changes in benthic cover and carbonate production, Bioerosion Monitoring Units (n=5) and Calcification Accretions Units (n=5) were collected and swaped.
Spatial sample design
Survey site locations were selected to represent temporal‐resolution monitoring with moored instruments at fixed time‐series. These sites were placed on depth gradient to assess how vertical structure affects reef status and trends. Pulaski Shoal (1m), White Shoal (5m), Bird Key Reef (15m), and Black Coral Rock (25m) are the selected study sites.
Figure 1: Map of study sites in Dry Tortugas National Park areaTemperature Data
Subsurface Temperature Recorder (STR)s made by SeaBird Electronics were placed at all 4 sites and collected temperature measurements at 5-minute intervals for 3 years.
Plot option 1:
Figure 2: Temperature data collected for 3 years at four sites in the Dry Tortugas at 1 m (Pulaski Shoal Lighthouse), 5m (White Shoal), 15m (Bird Key Reef) and 25 m (Black Coral Rock).The 1m, 5m, and 15m collected data for the full deployment. The 25m STR stopped collecting on Febuary 7th 2020.
Diurnal Suite Deployment
At Bird Key Reef additional instruments were deployed for a 72-hour diurnal suite. SeaFET pH logger, Tiltmeter and EcoPAR collected measurements at 5-minute intervals. Subsurface Automatic Samplers (SAS) collected discrete water samples at three-hour intervals (n=24).
Figure 3: pH, temperature, current and PAR collected from instrument deployment at Bird Key Reef site around 15 meters from June 25th to June 28th. Grey blocks denote night time through out sequence of plot. Instruments measured parameters every 5 minutes.
Summary table
By year and region
| Data | Number of observations | Days running | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature (STRs) | 1.1 million | 700 days | 4 depths |
| pH | 879 | 3 days | 1 depth |
| Light | 876 | 3 days | 1 depth |
| Current | 880 | 3 days | 1 depth |
About the monitoring program
AOML’s climate monitoring is a key part of the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP), providing integrated, consistent, and comparable data across U.S. Managed coral reef ecosystems. CRCP monitoring efforts aim to:
- Document the status of reef species of ecological and economic importance.
- Track and assess changes in reef communities in response to environmental stressors or human activities.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of specific management strategies and identify actions for future and adaptive responses.
Point of Contact
Atlantic Climate team lead: nicole.besemer@noaa.gov
Principal Investigator: ian.enochs@noaa.gov
NCRMP Coordinator: erica.towle@noaa.gov
For more information
Coral Reef Conservation Program: http://coralreef.noaa.gov
NCRMP climate page: https://www.coris.noaa.gov/monitoring/climate.html
NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/
Acknowledgements
These efforts were jointly funded by NOAA’s CRCP and OAP. We would like to thank the National Park Service and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for permitting support and the ANGARI Foudnation for field support.
Our Team
Field team members: Anderson Mayfield, Graham Kolodziej, Nicole Besemer, Nathan Formel, Patrick Kiel